Can’t live without your coffee? No problems - Emily Skye

Can’t live without your coffee? No problems

I do love my coffee, especially if it is a good quality bean and nicely made. A lot of people believe that a healthy lifestyle requires for you to stop drinking coffee, but this is necessarily not the case. It is true, that if you want to reduce the ‘stress’ on your liver you might want to reduce your intake of caffeinated drinks. However, I believe that there are other foods you should remove from your diets first, such as alcohol and soft drinks. I explain more about this in my Body RESET program, that you can find here. And, if you follow my F.I.T. programs you can still enjoy a cup or two per day, and here is why…

Health benefits of coffee
As I mentioned, there are a lot of information available about the ‘dangers’ of coffee, but the benefits actually seem to outweigh any risks.

Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants, which are important for your health. These will help fight free radicals and reduce inflammation in your body. Coffee has also been seen to reduce the risk of diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, not to mention being good for your mood, alertness and physical performance.

How much is too much?
In my F.I.T. programs I recommend for you to limit your intake of coffee (regular long blacks) to 2 cups per day, and to ensure that you don’t have your last one too late. A moderate amount of coffee on a daily basis is perfectly fine. Just make sure you keep it within your limits.

What about the risks?1. Addiction
As you know coffee contains caffeine and this compound is somewhat addictive. Caffeine affects your central nervous system and people can become dependent on caffeine to ‘perform’. If you stop your intake of caffeine you might experience some ‘withdrawal’ symptoms, including a headache, fatigue, depression, concentration difficulties and anxiety.

2. Insomnia
Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others, but the timing of you cup of coffee does have an effect on if it will affect your sleep or not. I would normally recommend for you to have your last coffee for the day at least 6 hours before you go to bed.

3. Osteoporosis
There are some reports and claims that coffee will increase your risk of weak bones. However, you need to drink over 7 regular cups of coffee per day to get to those levels of caffeine, ~744mg to be exact. If you drink a lot of coffee I would suggest for you to ensure you get enough calcium, just in case.

4. Cardiovascular disease
Coffee (caffeine) does have a temporary effect on your blood pressure and heart rate, especially if you are sensitive. However, there is not enough evidence that coffee and caffeine will cause higher cholesterol levels or heart disease.

Note: If you have heart problems, it is always advised to talk to your doctor regarding your diet and coffee drinking.

5. Cancer
Coffee (caffeine) has been accused of causing cancer, in fact, most evidence support coffee (caffeine) to protect against cancer.

6. Pesticide exposure
There have been concerns about coffee containing high levels of pesticides, but this not entirely true. The coffee beans are actually seeds and the fruit flesh is thrown away, and surveys of residues in coffee have not been able to find no traces of pesticides in the coffee tested. However, some coffees may contain some metals, furan and acrylamide, but at very low levels.

So, your exposure to pesticides from coffee might be insignificant, however, coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed crops. I prefer to buy organic coffee, as I have the health of the workers in mind.

7. Dehydration
If you have ever had a coffee you have probably noticed that you will need to go to the bathroom a bit more often. Coffee does have a slight diuretic effect, however, it does not seem to cause dehydration. And if you follow my recommendations of drinking plenty of water and keep to drinking coffee in moderation you will certainly not be at risk.

Watch the calories!
I always buy a black coffee to avoid adding too many calories. The fact is that your choice of coffee can have a major effect on your fat loss success. A regular black coffee contains about 2 calories, whilst caffé mocha can contain up to 230 calories, not to mention all the refined sugar!!

So, if you are a coffee lover like I am, make sure you drink coffee in moderation, not too late and make sure that you watch your calories.